The inventive technology, in particular embodiments, provides an apparatus and method for protecting the natural world/surrounding environment from leaks in the well-based, underground resource recovery (e.g., U3O8 in-situ leach mining) environment which might lead to undesired consequences such as contamination of the surface water for wildlife, contamination of plants, as well as loss of production and costly clean up, etc.
Mining operations involving wells (whether in-situ leach mining, domestic water recovery, oil recovery, natural gas recovery, or mineral mining generally, as but a few examples) necessarily involve conduit conveyance of fluid (whether gaseous or liquid) under pressure. Often, particularly at an interface of earth and atmosphere (e.g., above ground, atmosphere-exposed, even where the ground has been lowered) where thermal stresses and thermal cycling may be extreme (e.g., temperature extrema may be more than 30 degs. C apart in particular locations), fluid leaks may develop. Such leaks, of course, if not detected and resolved in some fashion, may contaminate the immediate environment and compromise mining operations. Indeed, governmental regulations may soon require mining companies mitigate environmental impact due to such fluid leaks by mandating leak detection and/or leaked fluid capture. Particular embodiments of the inventive technology may seek to mitigate deleterious environmental impact due to such leaks, whether by providing an automated detection and notification system, and/or providing environmental enclosures for wellheads that may attenuate thermal cycling and reduce the risk of leaks while also improving the reliability of leak detection systems.